Holidayzzzz

wow ok so the holidays just rolled on by, in case you didnt noticed all the x-mas deco, extra layers on people, and things of this sort that only happen at this time of the year, then im sorry people, you've just missed the holidays. This year its my first time spending the holidayz overseas, yay! Plus that gives me a great excuse not to buy anyone presents... no actually i still worked my lil butt off making special cards to send to my peeps back home (i'll do a post on them so u can see them). Also, i know im posting this holiday ish sooo late but its all right because like my momma always said, its not really over until jan.6 when the 3 guys come give baby jesus some goodies...

So i decided, im going to just do one BIG combined post on what i did for the holidayz, before, during and after xmas....

And i guess this is the time i should take to say Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope everyone had a great time with themselves and others. I wished i was with a lot of people i wont even mention but you already know, because i love being around good company. Im thankful for having good quality friends who love me unconditionally and support me in what i do. Please dont ever stop for i need that love to push forward. Thank youssssssssss!!!

It it started like this.... i was home alone for 6 days before xmas
because everyone ran away from Milan for the holidayz waaay before I did.

I thought I was going to go crazy not having my friends around but after i realized this may be exactly what I need. It gave me space and time to calm my over active self and recharge or something. But, as much as i love to hibernate this time of year, Im also always reminded that im in freaking Italy and that I MUST go outside just to be like, ggeeaahhh.
And in December 2009 going outside meant being in the snow. Yes, its been snowing in Milan! Its funny people still ask me, "it snows in Italy?" yes people, it does. Im in the north by the alps too so yea, we get a bit of snow. (we? ha listen to me trying to claim Milan...). I've never lived somewhere where it snows either so it was quite the experience. I was getting a.d.d. from not going outside, so i looked for excuses to run errands.... i layered up and hit the streets.

and please dont let anyone tell you, Doc Martins are NOT snowboots because even though there were slippery moments, I was well protected.

This is my everyday pathway covered in snow

my neighborhood

While running around I just took pics and walked into random stores. I came into some pretty interesting vintage and antique stores where i found a bunch of old records and books, i took a bunch of pics which will soon become a post on this blog (this post is looong enough already).

Ok, so then, finally my turn to run off to another country, this time: France...
Lucky ol' me got invited to my friends, Viviane, pronounced: Vi-Vi- YYAAAANNNN, family x-mas dinner in Northern France to be exact. She lives in the boarder of France and Switzerland very close to Geneva, a very diverse city because of its central location near France, Switzerland and Italy.

So of course i was excited! I get to travel and be in 3 different countries in 4days and i can just chill and satisfy my eardrums to the sound of the french language that i love so much.
I hopped on a train heading to Geneva as the snow came down on my umbrella accumulating gradually at the top.

I realized i like riding trains. The thing about trains though, they are NOT like airplanes in terms of timing. When a train says there departing at a certain time, please believe they are leaving at that time. That my favorite part though. Running towards the train with a bag on my shoulder and constantly looking at my watch praying that the train doesnt leave me. Its the rush at that moment that I love.
I also like how riding the train always makes me feel like im in the early 1900's for some reason.

I got to France to a beautiful house with home cooking and heated floors...mmm...got my walnut crackin' on
It was nice to wake up to this view of the mountains which is not justified by this picture.

We went up on a mountain too, I had to, it was so beautiful to see the beautiful mountains (shout outs to Obatala)


We drove to the market and i HAD to snap a pic of these birds on sale at the store who still had there heads covered with feathers and skin.

Here is a lil video at the grocery store in France. Man, im really bad sometimes with the video stuff because i always laugh too much or say inappropriate things...hmm... anyways i thought this was cute...

Then I got to ride on her FIAT (actually i was just imagining this), the ultimate European car.

Her pops also had a vintage Rolls mofoken Royce son, i cant help to cuss at the thought of this car.


The inside was beautiful. It had a bar and some ol' fluffy carpet. Its meant for riding in the back seat for its bigger and more comfortable. But it was parked in the garage and he refused to take it for a spin because it was raining...maybe next time.

Hahaha, i also saw How High in French, i thought it was funnier this way because even thought i dont speak French, I know this movie by heart and know exactly what there saying anyway.
I kinda ruined it towards the end by talking oopps, but you'll get the point.

We had a few great meals brought to us by her Italian mother apparently she drove to Italy just to get fresh poultry and pasta. The sweets her pops brought from Iran, where he is from, when he was there a week before. I didnt actually take any pics of the meals because i was too excited to think of pictures when i was getting ready to eat.

Viviane then took me around to meet her friends and things of this sort. This includes poppin bottles of the good ol' bubbly...


At some point we ended up in Switzerland where i had to make purchases with Swiss Francs.

We went out to a dub step party at this little underground joint. Where i decided to dance as if i was cold and crazy where i quickly became the popular dancer girl as my moves would go from drunk homeless person to a rude gal.
So the day i left back to Milan we had extra time to spare walking around in the lil city of Geneva, and besides I couldn't leave Switzerland without some swiss chocolate, a swiss army knife and a watch.
Ok, so peep this one right here. Were walking down the street and i notice the windows broken in a very artistic way at the local businesses. I thought, "oh what an interesting visual merchandising idea, right?...." NOT! As we kept walking we noticed that places such as the bank, jewelry stores etc, had been "vandalized". But not just any kind, this was an organized statement. These people rioted against these rich ass companies. Of course i had no idea, and so i googled it and found out -not much actually- of course it was related to the oppression of people by the government.
That means: Death to Capitalism in French
Crazy i thought. I mean i was part of the L.A. riots in '93 when i was a super little ghetto kid looting at the video store by my house after all. But still, its always a trip for me to see this type of manifestation, as they call it in France, when im away from home.

So i hopped back on a train and rode home to Milan. I had a very relaxing x-mas. It was non stop eating and i enjoyed being around the family vibes. I appreciated my time there and really enjoyed the view on my way home. It felt like a dream riding the train and looking out the window staring out at this beautiful view.

I dont know its a trip you know, to be from South Central L.A. then all of a sudden being in the other side of the world celebrating life and dreaming the dreams that make me who i am. im so grateful.